Railway-switch



N. W'. CHAFFIN. RAILWAY SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1920.

Patented June 28, 1921.

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N. W. CHAFFIN. RAILWAY SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22. mm.

Patented June 28, 1921.

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RAILWAY SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, I920- Patented June 28,1921

3. SHEETS-SHEET 3- auoemic IL 72 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEQ NORMAN W. CHAFFIN, 0F BURNWELL, WEST VIRGINIA.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

T 0 all 20 hom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORMAN WILBURN CHAFFIN, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at Burnwell, in the county of Kanawha and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Switches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

An object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple and effective switch mechanism, suitable for general railway, urban and interurban use, whereby a switch, normally held closed may be opened readily by'me'ans under the direct control of the engineer or motorman or other train or car attendant, and may be held locked in the open positionuntil the train or car, regard less of the length thereof, has entered the switch, whereupon the rails will be returned to the normal or closed position so as not to interfere with subsequent through-traffic without requiring any readjustment, and therefore without the services of a local switchman or watchman, and with these ob- 'jectsin view the invention consists in the 'COIISCIHClJlOIl' and combinatlon of parts of which 'a preferred embodlment is shown in means.

indicated at 10 and the switch rails at 11, the latter'being connected by a transverse switch bar 12 connected atone end to a looking member 1.3 which is termlnally disposed Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 28, 1921.

Application filed September 22, 1920. Serial No. 412,040.

to traverse the rack plate 141,- which may as lllustrated be supported upon one of the ties 15, said locking member normally being held out of contact with the rack platesbut adapted for depression to bring the toothed portion 16 thereof into engagement with the rack plate so as to maintain the switch rails in an open position.

. Located longitudinally between therails of the main track in the direction of approach to the switch rails is a tread rail 17 fulcrumed at one end by means of a retaining plate 18 in a plane below that of the treads of the main rails, said tread rail being inclined upwardly as it approaches the switch and projecting to aplane above that of the treads of the track rails, where it is provided with a downwardly extending guide pin 19, operating in a guide socket 20 and actuated by a spring 21 to normally and yieldinglyhold the tread rail in the elevated position indicated in Fig. 2. Also disposed longitudinally with reference to the track rails and mounted in suitable bearings 22, which may be secured to'the ties or other like supports, is a rock shaft 23 having at one end a crank arm 24 which is connected by a link 25 with the upper or movable end of the tread rail so that when the tread rail is depressed the rock shaft will be turned and through a crank arm 26 at the other end thereof will communicate longitudinal movement to the switch bar 12 to shift the switch rail to the open position.

i In connection with the above described mechanism, there is employed a retaining rail 27, of a length greater than the interval split longitudinally for that purpose, the

end 29 of said retaining rail being secured in place so as to permit of a slight vertical vibratory movement and being supported at the opposite end as indicated at. 30, by a guide pin 31 operating in aguide tube or socket 32, in opposition to a'spring 33 which tends to raise the free end of the retaining rail while permitting the latter to be depressed by the weight of the wheels of a car or train traversing the track. The retain ingrail follows the main track rail to the free end of the switch'rail arranged op:

erative relation therewith, and then follows the switch railat a sufficient interval theref from to permit of the opening movement of the said rail, so that when the switch is open a car or tram passing from the III-(L1H track to the swltch by reason of the continuous engagement of the wheelsthereoiwith' the retaining rail, holds the latter depressed until the wheels of the last car or'last truck of the car have passed'into the switch.

Arranged at its free end in the path of downward movement of the retaining rail is a treadle arm 35 suitably fulcrumed or mounted as at 36 upon a convenient cross tie of the roadbed and extending over a swingling bearing arm 37 mounted for example at so that when the tread bar 17 is depressed and the switch bar, through the connecting r mechanism above described, is moved transversely of the line of track to move the switch railsto' the open position, said rails are locked in the'openposition by the engagement of the said locking member-l3 with theratchetplate;

Carried by the car or engine of thetrain, as forexample. upon 'a suitable transverse spindlec39' is a treadroller 40, movable axially with relation to the spindleand' connected withahand lever 41 adapted to be arranged within convenient reach of the engineer or motorman, sothat as the car ortra n approaches thefswitch, .11? it is deslred to enter the same, the engineer'or motorman may operate the lever 41 and thus shift'the tread roller i0 into the plane of the tread bar or rail 17 to cause the depression thereof and hence the shifting-of the switch rails whereupon the engagement of the wheels of the trainer car or engine with, the retaining rail willlock the switch rails in this position until, the: complete train "-has entered ,the switch In the construction illustrated a rod 12 extending fromthe operating lever41 V is connected with a lever 43 which in'turii is connected with a bellcranlr lever i l-"from the. extremity of which extends a shifting rod 45 to thetread roll. 1 V s 7 It will be obvious from the description that the opening of the switchmay be efi'ected without interrupting themovement of the car or train, and after the ilastwheels ofthe car or train have releasedlthe tread wheel, the switch-"will be automaticallyclosed 'by it "the el'evation'ofthe free end of the tread rail "and the free endflof theiretainingrail, so that a through train or car may follow the main track without any intermediate adj ustment or manipulation on the part of an attendant.

Having thus describedthe invention, what I claim is: V i

v 1. A railway switch mechanism having switch rails and means for yieldingly holding the same in their closed position, a rock shaft operatively connected with the switch rails, a vertically; movable tread rail disposed in parallelism with the track rails in an upwardly and forwardly inclined position and operatively connected with said rockshaft, said tread rail being yieldingly held in its normal position and being depressible by a carortrain carried actuator, a

locking means for holding the switch rails in theiropened position, and a retainingrail disposed in parallelism with said adjacent portions of the main track and switch rails and depressible by the weight of wheels traversing said rails, said retainingrail being operatively connected with said locking devices.

2(A railway switch mechanism havingswitch rails yieldingly held in their closed positions, a vertically movable treadrail 0peratively connected with the switch rails and actuabletby car'or train carried means, a

vertically movable terminally depressible and yieldingly supported retaining rail disposedin parallelism with adjacent portions of the main track and switch rails for de-' )ression b wheels traversin said rails looking means. consisting of a ratchet plate and yielding locking member connected with the switch rails and adapted for engagement with the ratchet plate,and atreadle arm operatively connected with the retaining [rail and adapted for moving 'the' locking member: into engaging relation with the ratchet plate. 7, I

3. A railway switch mechanism having switch rails yieldingly held in their closed position, a switch bar connectingsaid rails,

in their opened" position and consisting of a yielding locking arm and a ratchet" plate traversed thereby, a treadrall disposed parallelwiththe'track rails for actuation by train or car carried means and operatively connected with said switch bar for moving the latter to the open switch position, a vertically depressible'retaining rail disposed in parallelism with adjacent portions of the main track and switch rails for actuation by wheels traversing said rails, an oscillatory operating arm disposedin engagingrelation with said locking. arm; and a treadle arm operatively connected with theretain'i ng rail and disposed to actuate said operating arm.

1 railway switch, mechanism having switch rails and meansfor yieldingly hold- I ingthe same in their'closedpositi'on and re} turning the same thereto when displaced, a

locking means for securing the switchjrails' tread rail operatively connected with the arm bearing upon the swinging arm and enswitch rails for actuation by train or car gaged by said retaining rail. 7 carried means, a stationary locking member, In testimony whereof I 1 ffix my signature a movable locking member connected to the in presence of two witnesses.

switch rails, a vertically movable retaining NORMAN W. CHAFFIN. rail adapted to be depressed by the wheels of a train or car, a swinging arm bearing upon the movable locking member, and a treadle Witnesses R. D. BRADLEY, D. G. PRESTON. 

